Well, the slim chance that this was going to be the year that we made the playoffs just got slimmer. The following teams are locks now -
San Antonio
Denver
Phoenix (15 in a row? Are you kidding me?)
Dallas (great when not playing Dubs)

the following are teams that are better at this point than Warriors and will likely continue to play well barring injury
Utah
Lakers (damn!)
Houston

This leaves us competing with the following teams for the final spot:
Clippers - you gotta think they are going to get hot later in the season
Hornets
Kings
PS - Minnesota is 10-11, but I don't see them making it.

I can see us doing better, with a healthy team at some point, than two of the above three teams - but all three? Maybe if we stay close to .500 by the All Star break and everyone stays healthy for 2nd half of the season.
I had hoped that the Nuggets would lose most the games they were not going to have Carmelo thus putting them in danger of not making the playoffs, but the addition of AI means they will win more of those games during suspensions and that once Melo and AI are on the same page that team will win a lot of games.

Sounds about right. I would put the Lakers in the last group, too. It would be something like this:

LOCKS

San Antonio
Denver
Phoenix
Dallas

SHOULD BE IN

Utah
Houston

ON THE BUBBLE

Lakers
Clips
Hornets
W's
Kings

I'd say we're better than the Kings... but I'm not sure we'll be able to beat two of those teams for one of the two spots remaining... It's gonna be tough. Almost impossible if we don't start winning some games on the road.

sleepyfloyd wrote:Well, the slim chance that this was going to be the year that we made the playoffs just got slimmer. The following teams are locks now - San AntonioDenverPhoenix (15 in a row? Are you kidding me?)Dallas (great when not playing Dubs)

the following are teams that are better at this point than Warriors and will likely continue to play well barring injuryUtahLakers (damn!)Houston

This leaves us competing with the following teams for the final spot:Clippers - you gotta think they are going to get hot later in the seasonHornetsKingsPS - Minnesota is 10-11, but I don't see them making it.

I can see us doing better, with a healthy team at some point, than two of the above three teams - but all three? Maybe if we stay close to .500 by the All Star break and everyone stays healthy for 2nd half of the season.I had hoped that the Nuggets would lose most the games they were not going to have Carmelo thus putting them in danger of not making the playoffs, but the addition of AI means they will win more of those games during suspensions and that once Melo and AI are on the same page that team will win a lot of games.

The West is just too damn tough!

I think your analysis ie right on. I put us at 50% chance - better than kings, minny and hornets, but really depends on clippers

To Live is A Value Judgment - Albert Camus
3 reasons for living: Jazz, Hoops and women

Denver was always going to finish ahead of us. They just might now be a 2nd or 3rd seed.

We're still competing with the same teams we were competing with at the beginning of the year; namely, the Lakers and Rockets.

I doubt the Kings, Hornets, or Timberwolves will get into the playoffs... so all we really need to worry about are LA and Houston. McGrady's already out... Yao can't be far behind, either. And Kobe will run out of steam at some point.

I'm not worried; we were fishing for an 8th seed at the start of the season... and that's where we still are.

Denver was gonna be ahead of us in the rankings, anyways. If the Kings, Lakers, Hornets, Rockets, or Timberwolves got him... it'd be a different story.

I agree this probably has no effect on us except for people who bought tickets to see philly. Though there was a chance denver wouldn't make the playoffs before the trade since 15 games sans melo and 10 games sans JR smith might be tough for them

dstown is right-
we have a long way to go before we can even talk about playoffs!
Honestly, in year's past when we had hope we always found a way to screw it up, either by losing nine straight or injuries or whatever. My hope is that Nelson is the guy that makes us better as the season progresses, not worse like in year's past.
I know we are excited about the younger guys on the team, but I really think that J-Rich needs to come back close to full strength and confidence for us to have any shot.

Houston, Clippers, the Fakers and the Warriors have key players with injuries which has brought them to playing medicore basketball. If players like Cassel, TMAC, Odom and Richardson don't return to form, there is very little chance of even reaching the post -season because the conference is so tough. We should be optimistic about the playoffs for several reasons, a. we do have some talent, b. we have a legit NBA coach with a good track record of making it to the playoffs c. Nelson paying the price in victories by letting the young players learn from fourth quarter experience. We still have a 20% chance of making the playoffs which is still better than none.

Spurs, Mavs and Suns are the only proven top teams and they will be ranked in the top 3, in what order is the unknown.

The Jazz have been winning but they have had alot of wins lately where they have come back and barely won so they are not a top team just yet but if they keep on winning, they may even end up with a better record than the Mavs.

The Lakers have won alot, how I don't know but they have. They are still a possiblity to not make the playoffsa and I still rank them as on the verge but nothing definate.

My ratings would have to be:

Top teams and definates for playoffs - Spurs, Suns, Mavs (I think ranked in that order as well).

Highly probable to make playoffs: Jazz, Rockets

Possible playoff teams: Warriors, Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Kings

Less probable to make playoffs: Sonics, Hornets, TWolves

Definately won't make it: Blazers, Grizzlies

Rockets are not looking as strong as I thought and I reckon they will make it but TMac has to play most of the second half of the season.
Nuggets are a very good team but with the suspensions, they will likely lose a few games over the next month and they won't be able to get back into the top 4.
Sonics have been very good but will likely fall off a bit as the season goes on.
Blazers have been the biggest surprise, as they have won alot, but they will likely fall off and finish last or second last.

Grizzlies should win alot more if Gasol gets back to being his usual self but they are so far behind now that it will be unlikely that they make the playoffs

migya wrote:Grizzlies should win alot more if Gasol gets back to being his usual self but they are so far behind now that it will be unlikely that they make the playoffs

I don't think the Grizz have a chance to make the playoffs. Gasol will play around 20 min per game during the first month or so... and the rest of the team is abysmal.

They'll be right there in the Oden sweepstakes.

Also, I think the AI will affect us a bit, due to Melo's suspension. I doubt Denver would have won more than 3 or 4 games without him (yeah, I know they won the first... We would have been fighting with them for a spot at the end of the season. Not anymore.